CLEVELAND — Yankees Manager Aaron Boone may tout the “sneaky athleticism” of his backup catcher Austin Romine, but he cannot do it with a straight face.

More chuckles — and a Benny Hill soundtrack — were in order again on Saturday night as Romine circled the bases on a Little League home run that broke a tie game in the seventh inning. After another stout bullpen performance, the Yankees escaped with an eventful 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Romine’s dash around the bases, which was aided by two errors, was one of several banana-peel plays in another tight game between the two teams that played a riveting and crisp division series in October.

“It wasn’t always perfect and pretty, but a really good win for us tonight,” said Boone, who watched the final four innings from the clubhouse after being ejected for the second time this season.

He could finally breathe easily once Aroldis Chapman retired Rajai Davis on a soft fly ball to right field with the tying run on base — a far more palatable outcome than their fateful showdown two years ago in Game 7 of the World Series. Chapman, Dellin Betances and David Robertson closed out the final three and a third innings without allowing a hit.

The Yankees’ bullpen has not allowed a run in its last 14⅓ innings, since allowing a run in the bottom of the ninth in Baltimore on Tuesday.

With the score tied to begin the seventh inning, Romine led off with a double into the right-center-field gap. When right fielder Brandon Guyer fumbled the ball, Romine raced for third.

As he slid headfirst into the bag, the relay throw from second baseman Erik Gonzalez skipped past third baseman Jose Ramirez, with pitcher Mike Clevinger late backing up the base. The ball bounced off a thigh-high screen in front of the dugout, landed on the dirt and then spun into the dugout to send Romine home with a welcoming slap from the third-base coach Phil Nevin.

Once Romine arrived in the dugout, his teammates congratulated him — and also took a few good-natured shots.

“Why does everyone have fun watching a catcher try to run to third?” Romine asked.

It was fitting that the Yankees seized the lead on a comedy of errors because that is how they had surrendered an advantage in the sixth.

C.C. Sabathia, given a 4-2 lead on home runs by Didi Gregorius and Greg Bird, looked as if he were going to extricate himself from a jam when, with runners at second and third and two outs, Guyer hit a grounder to third base. But Miguel Andujar, who whirled completely around as he caught the ball, pulled Bird off first base with his throw. Bird was slow to react to Ramirez racing home from second, and his throw to Romine at the plate was high and late.

“It’s definitely more nerve-racking watching up here,” Boone said. “I’ve walked about a mile up here. I’ve watched every TV in this clubhouse.”

Boone was ejected after arguing that Giancarlo Stanton should not have been called out after he swung at a two-strike pitch; it first appeared that he had fouled off a fastball. But the first-base umpire Jerry Meals ruled that the ball hit Stanton’s hand, not the bat, so he was ruled out.

Boone argued with the home-plate umpire Ed Hickox and then with Meals. After the umpires convened and maintained their call, his continued haranguing got him ejected.

“I thought it was going to be a bad look when a ball goes back to the screen on a swing,” Boone said. “But in looking up here, it looks like they got it right.”

There was still one more blunder for the Yankees to survive. To begin the ninth, Guyer hit a high pop-up near home plate that Romine camped under. Andujar also came in but appeared to cede ground at the last minute. Romine lost his balance and fell, as did the ball, which landed harmlessly on the grass in foul territory.

Chapman, though, retired Guyer on a grounder. Not long after, the Yankees enjoyed the last laugh.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page SP2 of the New York edition with the headline: Pretty? Hardly. Entertaining? Perhaps a Little Bit.. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe